Somebody Come and Play
by rwrocksme
Summary: Hermione wishes for a day of childlike fun. Inspired by a song by Joe Raspo


Title: Somebody Come And Play

Date: March 31, 2007 8:47 PM

Category: Harry Potter Fanfiction

Tags: Harry Potter, fanfiction, Ron/Hermione

Title: Somebody Come And Play

_**Somebody come and play **_

_**Somebody come and play today **_

_**Somebody come and be my friend **_

_**And watch the sun 'till it rains again **_

_**Somebody come and play today **_

**Somebody Come And Play****, Written and Performed by Joe Raspo**

One day in July, long after Voldemort's demise, Hermione was reminicing in the yard of the house she shared with her husband, Ron, and she realized that they had never really had a childhood. From the beginning of their days at Hogwarts, she and her friends Harry and Ron were always either saving the world or trying to solve some mystery. Even before Hogwarts, Harry had been holed up with the Durselys, and Ron was in a house with five older brothers who teased him. Hermione had always been a reader, and never really spent any time outside, playing.

Of course, Hermione had chosen to spend her time reading. Still, on this particular summer day, she wanted, more than anything, to _play._ She couldn't really explain it, but she did.

Hermione sat up and went into the house to look for Ron. He was nowhere to be found in any of his usual hangout spots, such as his office (which was really a glorified broom closet) or by the radio, listening to Quidditch on the W.W.N.

"_Maybe he went to Harry's," _she thought, looking at the fireplace.

Suddenly, Hermione heard a loud banging noise coming from outside the house. She ran outside and into the shed, where she found Ron attempting to get up from the floor.

"Are you okay?" she asked, helping him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ron replied, picking up the his stool, which had fallen over. "What are you doing in here?"

Ron was more perceptive than he let on, Hermione had realized over the years. Hermione never went into the shed, prefering not to be around the smell of broom polish and sandpaper. The shed was where Ron built and repaired the brooms he and his Chudley Cannons teammates used (Ron had discovered a knack for broom making during the period after the Final Battle, as he couldn't fly for a year).

"I want you to come play with me," Hermione told him. He looked puzzled for a moment, and then started to laugh a little.

"Play? As in like, Quidditch?"

"No! I mean...like, like..._play._ Like kids."

"Hermione, we did that already. We were kids. And you never wanted to play then!" Ron said. He still didn't get it.

A voice called from the house. It was Ginny, who had apparently popped over for a surprise visit.

"Hermione?" Ginny called, "Are you home?"

Hermione laughed, only half disapointed. "I guess I'll go see your sister."

Ron spent the next eight hours going back and forth between his shed and a Muggle thing called a "computher", on which Hermione had tried to teach him (to little avail) to use the "interpet", He went to the Burrow to borrow a few of his father's magically altered power tools, and even into Muggle London for wood.

He didn't have much experiance building things, much less Muggle things, but Hermione had always told him that there was "a first time for everything" and that "you can't fail if you never try." It might be pointed out that Ron hadn't listened to her when it came to doing unfun things like schoolwork, but had no trouble saying she was right when it came to using power tools. Blame it on his father, but Ron had definatley inherited the Muggle facination gene from his father.

Actually, it was his father who had given Ron the idea to build this Muggle contraption for Hermione, even if he didn't know it.

_"Come on, Ronald, we're going out," Arthur chipped, picking his four year old sun up and carrying him outside. _

_"Where are we going?" Ron asked, clutching his stuffed teddy bear, Radar in his hand. _

_"We're going to the playground," his father answered. Ron wanted to know what a playground was, but he had learned at a young age that in a house with six other children, it was best not to ask a lot of questions. _

_When they got to the playground, his father took him out of the car and put him out the ground. Ron teetered around a little bit, until he saw something very, very interesting. It was a long, wide rubber piece, attached to a stick by two long metal chains. That stick was held up in the air by two other sticks. Ron had never seen one of these before. _

_"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the unusual contraption. _

_"That's a swing, Ron. Muggles sit on it so that they can fly!" Arthur exclaimed. He took Ron over to the swing, and sat on it, demonstrating. He moved, up and down, up and down, until Ron figured it out for himself and sat on the swing next to his father. _

_Mr. Weasley got off of his own swing and pushed Ronald up into the air. "Wheee!" Ron shouted, flying in the air. _

For his father, that day was just a Muggle studies trip, but Ron had never forgotten it. He thought that it might have been the only day he'd ever spent with his dad without any of his siblings around, and it was definatley the only one he remembered. Ron hadn't ever gone back to that park, and he'd never swung again, either, but he'd secretly looked for playgrounds when they'd gone through Muggle towns on their quest to find Voldemort.

When his project was finally finished, he went inside to take a shower and change clothes. Hermione didn't know he'd been building things all day--she'd been out with Ginny all afternoon--and he didn't want her to have any hints to her surprise when she got home.

"Ron?" Hermione called from the living room, "Ron, where are you?"

Ron ran downstairs to greet her. He pulled her into a soft kiss. "I have a surprise for you," he whispered, and took her hand.They walked through the house and to the back door. Ron told her to close her eyes, and she complied unwillingly.

"Ron, what are we doing?" Hermione protested.

"Shh," Ron whispered, and put his hands over her eyes. He took her outside and walked her out into the yard. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

"Open your eyes," he said.

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione laughed.

In the middle of their backyard stood a swing set. It was haphazard and the poles were uneven, yes, but it was wonderful none the less. Hermione walked towards it, admiring it, running her hands down the chains. She hadn't seen a swing set since she was a little girl!

"So?" Ron asked, "What are you waiting for? You said you wanted to play!"

Hermione laughed and pulled him towards her. "Play _with_ me!" she cried. So, they played. They swung on the swing and ran around until it was almost dark out, when they collapsed, laughing hysterically.

"I...I haven't played like that since, since," Hermione gasped, lying on the grass laughing.

"Since five minutes ago?" Ron asked, bursting into giggles again. Hermione began to laugh again.

"No! Since I was a kid," Hermione said when she had finally regained her composure.

"I don't know about you," Ron sighed, "But I _was _a kid five minutes ago!"

Hermione smiled. She moved over to him and he held her in his arms, watching the sun go down. They stayed there for what seemed like forever, listening to each other breathe, until Hermione finally spoke up.

"You know what?" she asked, taking Ron's hand.

"Hm?"

"I'm so glad you came out to play with me."


End file.
